Hot on the heels of 30 hours of cattle class flying with only 4 hours of sleep in a real bed. I am again gazing out through a plane window. This one is a small twin prop flying from Anchorage to a tiny town called King Salmon in far west Alaska. The countryside below is sparsely wooded with lots of waterways and lakes. Jutting out through the sea are stark rocky outcrop islands with green grassy carpets. Is it just the flying fatigue? Something is odd. Suddenly the penny drops, there is something missing in the landscape, mankind. There are absolutely no roads, tracks or any sign of human habitation. This is pristine wilderness and, by all accounts, Alaska is absolutely covered with it.
The final leg involved a 90 minute seaplane flight landing on Lake Nanuk deep in the heart of Katmai National Park at Brooks Lodge. Back on terra firma my nostrils were assaulted with the smell of decomposing fish emanating from the many bear scats all around. We are ushered from the sea plane straight into the ranger’s office for our bear briefing. We are told that the bears here are used to seeing humans, but, of course they still remain extremely dangerous. We are not to get any closer than 50 yards to bear (100 yards to mother and cubs). What to do if approached by a bear and the essential instructions about having no food or drinks out in the open.
Infused with confidence (or is that trepidation?) its off to check in and lunch before heading off for bear viewing. I wander out of the lunch room to be confronted by a big brown bear who, perhaps 20 yards from me ambles over a grassy hill right in front of me and continues down to the beach. At that moment it suddenly occurred to me that this place with the log cabins in the woods reminds me of Wilson’s Prom but instead of wombats wandering on the grass we have massive grizzlies here
